1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-compartment container for fragile disks, such as silicon wafers used in the manufacture of integrated circuits.
Silicon wafers used in the manufacture of electronic integrated circuits are extremely fragile and must be adequately protected against breakage during handling and shipping. An orderly form of packaging is further desired to minimize manual handling of individual wafers.
2. Description of Prior Art
A known cassette-type packing system for the shipping and automatic handling of multiple silicon wafers is manufactured by the Monsanto Company, Electronics Division, Palo Alto, California. The packaging system comprises a rigid polypropylene cassette container for containing silicon wafers in a compact, spaced apart stack. Each package or cassette is constructed by the assembly of a plurality of separetely molded pieces. The wafers are stored in the grooves or slots of a rigid rack disposed within the cassette container, which in turn is enclosed within an outer tube. Due to the relative rigidity of the interior package, severe shocks may be transmitted to the enclosed silicon wafers resulting in breakage. Furthermore, the shape and construction of the containers are such as to require expensive tooling of molds and a relatively complex package assembly.
A number of patents disclose packaging systems for fragile objects. U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,246, to Sloan, discloses a packaging system having an outer protective box and an inner package for enclosing a fragile object. The inner package includes a spacer ridge which totally surrounds the object thereby prohibiting flexure of the interior package.
French Pat. No. 1,351,992 discloses a corrugated cookie package of very thin gauge material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,164,478, to Bostrum, discloses a dough-nut package of thin gauge material, but without the provision of a cooperating outer protective package. U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,238, to Graham, discloses a corrugated cookie package somewhat similar to the above referenced French Patent. However, no outer protective package is shown.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,223,234, to Weiss, discloses a packaging system for fluorescent tubes in which discrete end spacers and central spacers cooperate to space tubes inside an outer protective box.
Although the above patents generally disclose means for packaging fragile objects, none teaches or suggests an outer, relatively rigid package enclosing a bellows-like interior package flexibly suspended therein by end spacers the interior package being adapted to carry a stack of indentical fragile disks in coushioned spaced apart relation.